Sometimes, it’s all about steak. Whatever else happens that week, you know you have to get to Hawksmoor or Goodman for a slab of beef, a jug of Bearnaise and as many twice-cooked chips as your arteries can handle. Some days, you just need a burger or a lunchtime burrito from Luardo’s or Daddy D.
But sometimes, it all gets too much and you end up in a tiny vegan Japanese place on King’s Cross Road, sandwiched between a rough-looking pub and one of London’s finest fetish emporiums. Itadaki Zen is more of a café than a restaurant, with just three tables for two and a line of single seats down one side – perfect for solo diners. The interior, we’re told, was designed and built by volunteers from Japan and it’s all rather lovely and low-key. Lots of light wood, simple furniture, and inoffensive Oriental flourishes. We started with sake and sat sandwiched between two pairs of chattering ladies while we waited for the meat-free feast to begin.
Harumaki - Light and crisp sping rolls with shredded vegetables and smashed tofu. Spring rolls have a bad reputation for being tasteless, greasy and straight from the freezer, but as you can see, this isn't the case at Itadaki Zen. They were only slightly greasy (as anything deep-fried will inevitably be) but the filling was obviously fresh and it was easy to identify the veg inside, unlike the mysterious mush you find inside inferior specimens. Dipped in wasabi-soy, these were a success. Difficult to eat with chopsticks though.
Agesan sushi rolls - Sushi addicts might miss sashimi, but the sushi here is very good. Again, very fresh, with decent rice and a generous filling of tofu, carrot, cucumber and shitake mushroom. They also do nigiri sushi, though we're not sure how that works - presumably strips of fresh veg laid over rice. "You'd have to be vegetarian to appreciate this," said my carnivorous companion, "because veg sushi is basically rolled salad."
Agedashi tofu - Ok, so tofu is a running theme here. If you like it, you're in luck, but if you don't, you might want to keep walking. This dish is about as tasty as tofu gets - the sizeable cubes are deep-fried but not crispy and they sit in a light tentsuyu broth made from dashi, mirin and soy. It wasn't as tasty as it probably could be and we prefer smaller cubes, but overall it's a nice side dish. The chef, we were told, doesn't like to use too much salt so that might explain why we felt the broth was underseasoned.
Vegetable tempura - Proof, if it were needed, that everything tastes good fried. The batter was light and crisp and we loved the skinny onion rings, thin slices of sweet potatoes and crunchy corn. We didn't like the okra, which had a tendency to slide out of its coating and either burn your lip or land in your miso. Best of all was the oh-so-crispy fritters of grated carrot and onion. A dipping sauce - maybe ponzu? - would have been great, but we understand that's not their thing. Soy sufficed but when that's the dip for everything, you're left with fairly one-dimensional flavour combos. We wouldn't have minded if some yakitori skewers or chicken karaage had appeared at this stage, but the absence of meat wasn't really a big deal.
Our bill, including additional rice, miso and a seemingly bottomless jar of hot sake, came to around £40. We left feeling full but virtuous and lamented the fact that this place was still a greasy spoon when we were studying across the road. Students and locals should definitely pop in for lunch when a sushi set (including potato salad and tempura or a spring roll) will set you back just £7.50 and hot noodle bowls are equally cheap and filling. It might not convert the die-hard beef bandits, but veggies and vegans can eat very well here.
